In December 2010 a jobless Tunisian graduate burnt himself to death. Having been forcibly prevented from the dangerous and criminal act of selling vegetables from a cart without the proper “license”, he took drastic action. The chain reaction which followed, now affectionately referred to as the “Arab Spring”, likely would not have happened in a [...]
June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Why I Ditched California for Mongolia
A few months back Chris and I were fortunate enough to meet a young man named Scott. Scott was about to graduate from a well-known, east coast university with a degree in finance. He was as ambitious a young man as we’d ever met, and we knew immediately that we wanted to keep an eye [...]
June 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Libya – An Obvious Frontier Market Opportunity
We’re back with Kevin Virgil from Columbus Street Ventures talking about opportunities in Libya. Kevin hopped on a plane the minute Gaddafi was ousted. Today he’s seeking out opportunities on the ground, and we’re glad to be getting the benefit of his experience and first-hand knowledge. ——– Mark: Kevin, I have no doubt that Africa [...]
June 20, 2012 By 1 Comment
Libya, Land of Opportunity?
With the Libyan civil war still fresh in most people’s minds, not the least of which being the Libyan people, the country remains “off the radar” of most frontier market investors. And for good reason… perhaps. Libya is not a place to tread lightly, and it’s frankly not a place Chris or I know very [...]
June 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
The Risks of (Not) Investing in Frontier Markets – Central Asia
Today we’ll conclude our conversation about Central Asia with Clemente Cappello from Sturgeon Capital. Corporate governance, transparency and management are three things you need to focus on when doing your due diligence, but that’s just the beginning. ——– Chris: Corporate governance is always an issue in frontier markets. How do you deal with this? Clemente: [...]
June 13, 2012 By 1 Comment
A Beginner’s Guide to the “Stans”
This is part two of our discussion with Clemente Cappello from Sturgeon Capital… We’re discussing Central Asia. Yesterday Clemente shared the 3 Things you Need to Know About Central Asian Frontier Markets with us. Today we’ll talk more about banking, business and liquidity flows in Frontier Markets, like Kazakhstan. ——– Chris: What is the banking [...]
